Data-Driven Floodplain Management and Regulation in the City of Clearwater

This week, we had the opportunity to attend Florida Floodplain Management Association’s Annual Conference and present on data driven floodplain management alongside Sarah Kessler, CRS Coordinator and MS4 Coordinator for Clearwater, FL. 

Sarah takes a forward looking approach to floodplain management. In the last several years, Clearwater has been proactive about applying stricter regulations, such as a new floodplain management ordinance in 2018 and a Vulnerability Assessment in 2021. They also decided to partner with Forerunner to help manage their data.

Sarah shared how they implemented Forerunner’s public website to educate and inform the community about their flood risk, and how they use the internal dashboard to consolidate their FIRMS together in one place. They also use Forerunner to verify ECs and track SI/SD for the CRS, driving more efficiency in day to day workflows, and have found a lot of value managing their data on the platform.

We are excited to continue partnering with Sarah and Clearwater to help them use their data in new and meaningful ways, and really enjoyed connecting with those at the FFMA conference!

You can view the presentation here: Data-Driven Floodplain Management and Regulation in the City of Clearwater